“Aside from allowing this federally sponsored jailbreak to occur, ICE has also failed to provide any information regarding the number of detainees released, their countries of origin, locations where these individuals have been released and the reasons they were detained — despite repeated requests from my office,” the former GOP presidential candidate said in a public statement on Monday.

Text Size

-

+

reset

W.H.: Not involved in ICE's decision to release detainees

Napolitano: Immigrant detainees story 'not accurate'

Last week, ICE officials released some illegal immigrants ahead of sequestration, the automatic $1.2 trillion cuts in federal funding that took effect Friday. DHS secretary Janet Napolitano and the White House have denied direct involvement, saying that ICE career officials made the decision in the field.

Perry called it “unconscionable.”

“The release of criminal aliens into our communities by ICE is unconscionable. This action far surpasses the grandstanding Americans have come to associate with sequestration talks by potentially jeopardizing the safety of 26 million Texans — safety the federal government already compromises by falling short on border security,” Perry said.